**
"Julianne," he stood and went to her. Julianne turned toward him and Wade kissed her before she could open her mouth to keep complaining. He didn't stop until he knew she would be out of breath and that he could speak first, but by the time he stopped kissing her, his cock was hard and ready. Every bit of him ached to fuck her. Every bit of him ached to taste her. "Come here," he murmured, and kissed her some more.
Wade didn't stop kissing Julianne until he had fucked her hard and long bent over his desk. He fucked her until she came, then he came, then he made her come one more time.
She collapsed on the bed, half-dressed and spent, and he went to her once more.
"Julianne," he began again. This time she listened.
"I need you to be safe. I'm worried, love." He stroked her cheek tenderly, reminding her that he really did care about her safety and well being. He really did care about what happened to her.
Was there ever any doubt in her mind that he cared for her? He should ask her, but he wasn’t the type for romance. He was a pirate: not a lover. He could bed women with the rest of them, but his heart had died years ago.
Madeleine had been his joy, his love. He had promised to love her ‘til the end of his days, and he meant to keep that promise. Until recently, he’d known that loving Madeleine meant he’d never love anyone else. His heart had felt so full with her. They’d grown up together, they’d fallen in love together, they’d had children together.
They’d loved one another so deeply that he had never felt the need to find anyone else to love him.
Until now.
Now, Julianne filled his thoughts. His days were spent thinking more of her than the sea, more of her than his long-lost love, and that was a strange feeling for a pirate.
The thought of losing Julianne was one Wade didn’t want to entertain. He couldn’t bear the thought of anything happening to her, of her becoming trapped or lost or stuck somewhere. He didn’t know what he would do if she succumbed to the Isle of Changers.
He didn’t know that she’d be safer in Eli.
Eli wasn’t known for entertaining characters with good reputations.
Eli wasn’t a place for honorable men.
But the Isle of Changers could take her from him forever.
“If you come, you have to stay in the cabin,” he said. “I’ll tie you to the bed if I have to. I mean that. You cannot be on deck when we pass the island. It’s just not safe.”
**
She shook her head.
"I've survived worse. Besides, I'm not scared of ghosts."
She would follow Wade to the ends of the earth.
And then she would follow him some more.
Julianne wasn't scared of the stories, of the threats surrounding the Isle of Changers. She wasn't scared of ghosts or ghouls. She wasn't scared of things that might be lurking in the shadows or hiding.
She wasn't scared because she had Wade.
She wasn't scared because he was there.
She wasn't scared because her pirate would do anything for her.
Her pirate was the bravest man she'd ever known.
Hers.
25
The storm rocked the boat as they neared the isle. Wade had grown agitated and anxious as the waves got worse, shaking the ship. The storm tossed the boat back and forth, shifting barrels from one side of the ship to the other. Most of the men were on deck, trying their best to keep The Dark Lovely afloat. Wade was with them, as was Nelson.